A Bit of Courage
by theAkuRokuFaNaTiC
Summary: If the counseling session in Miss Pillsbury's office had gone differently, and Blaine and Kurt went separate ways. But the best love stories are always made out of gum wrapper rings, stuffed puppies, a bit of courage, and airport terminals. Klaine.


Neither knew how they had managed to get themselves into this predicament. Neither knew how to fix it, either. Kurt had thought that perhaps Miss Pillsbury would know how - she _was_ the guidance counselor, after all. Everything kind of snowballed down from there.

The two were settled stiffly in the chairs facing Miss Pillsbury's desk, and the ginger-haired woman sorted a few papers on her desk nervously, clearing her throat. "So, how about we get to the root of the problem; I'm going to guess that it is a trust issue?" Blaine didn't seem as invested in this meeting as Kurt was, yet both teens nodded wordlessly. "Alright. Now remember, none of this conversation is going to go out of this room. Feel free to say whatever. I won't even interrupt. Unless needed." Emma stopped herself before she could ramble too much. Blaine sat up straighter as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Well, this new guy-"

"Chandler," Kurt interrupted quickly.

"_Chandler_ has been texting Kurt nonstop for the past few days, and they haven't been completely family friendly, either." At this, the pale brunette buried his face in his hands, looking ready to start a screaming match; they had obviously been through this before. "It's cheating," Blaine said, looking straight at Kurt as the taller teen lifted his head.

Kurt snorted bitterly - he seemed to be at the end of his rope, as did Blaine. "It's not cheating if it's not on both sides. I haven't been saying the same things, or complimenting him or anything. Besides, he did the _exact_ same thing with Sebastian! And look where that got us. A hospital visit and a nearly blind right eye. So if it's cheating, then I expect a mangled left leg." Kurt crossed his arms across his chest defensively, and Emma knew immediately that this session would take longer than one class period. It was good that she was on anti-anxiety medication right now. Really good.

"I didn't reply with smiley-faces or thank-yous. I _told_ Sebastian that I had a boyfriend and had no intention of cheating on you." Blaine shook his head and gritted his teeth, looking like he wanted to punch something very much. Probably that Chandler person.

"Would you have shown me every text that Sebastian sent you?" Kurt retorted, squaring his jaw and lifting his head quickly. It was that thing he did when he made it quite obvious that he was a put-together teenager. Will often complained about it.

The dark-haired teen furrowed his brow. "Of course!"

"The ones you deleted?"

It took a moment of hesitation for Blaine to bob his head, and Kurt shook his head this time. "No, you wouldn't. But you know what - I trusted you; I _knew_ that you wouldn't cheat on me, and I certainly didn't go around singing about it! Or getting the entire Glee Club to hate me! Which, by the way, they had no right! Quinn cheated on Finn with Puck, Finn cheated on Puck with Rachel, Rachel cheated on Finn with Puck, Puck is Puck, Quinn cheated on Sam with Finn, Mercedes cheated on Shane with Sam, Tina cheated on Artie with Mike, Brittany-"

"Stop." Blaine's voice was broken-sounding and tired, and the bags under Kurt's eyes were enough to let Emma know how much this fight was taking a toll on the both of them. She worried her bottom lip as they continued. "Sebastian and I didn't cheat, and if you thought I was, you should've said something! No, you just bottle everything up until it comes out!"

"And you don't? And no, I didn't think you were cheating, because you _weren't_! I wasn't cheating on you! He meant absolutely nothing to me. It just felt nice having someone compliment me; I'm sorry if that was too much to ask."

"You want to be complimented? You'd be willing to cheat on me to be complimented?"

"I didn't cheat on you!" Kurt nearly screamed that last bit, and Emma winced at the frantic tone of his voice. "And why did you have to get everyone involved in this whole thing? Because I could've easily done this in November when you were 'cheating on me', because you apparently were." Kurt made air quotes to emphasize his point, and Emma noticed Blaine's knuckles turning white. A stray thought occurred to her - who knew there were so many gay people in Ohio? "I didn't go around saying, 'This song is for anyone whose boyfriend tried to have sex with them in a parking lot outside a gay bar.' Or, 'This song is for anyone whose boyfriend is currently dancing a very inappropriate dance with a very promiscuous gay guy'." After his rant, Kurt seemed out of breath, and tears were brimming in his blue eyes. Blaine's eyes were misty, as well, and the ginger-haired woman was quite confused.

The two were silent for a few moments, not quite long enough for Emma, because she _really_ wasn't qualified for this. Finally, Blaine opened his mouth. "You could've been dancing with us. No, you were sitting and sulking and talking to Dave Karofsky. Who, if I remember correctly, tried to start dating you during Valentine's Day. You didn't have a problem telling _him_ that you had a boyfriend."

"You are such a hypocrite. You think that _just_ because you told Sebastian that we were dating excuses you from ever making a mistake. But it was fine to just sit there and listen to him call you names from 'hot' to 'sex on a stick'. Yeah, I heard about that one," Kurt answered to Blaine's shocked (and maybe guilty), expression. "And you were also fine-" Kurt's voice cracked, signaling the slightest of chinks in his well-built armor, "-with letting Sebastian make fun of me and humiliate me. Right in front of you. You didn't defend me."

Blaine's expression fell to the ground, and the curly-haired teenager was very quiet for a long time. To his right, Kurt was very careful not to cry, even if Emma could see his bottom lip dangerously quivering. "I'm sorry. I guess we just have-"

"Trust issues."

"Yeah. And I'm jealous. I have been ever since Cooper came to visit." Emma checked out of the conversation for only a few seconds to remember Blaine's very attractive older brother with the very unattractive ego that could fill Sue Sylvester's shoes. Maybe? When she came back to reality, Emma almost screamed when she noticed that the scathing comments had returned. "Because he is the - what was it - 'most attractive man in North America'." Blaine swiped at his eye quickly, biting his lip. Both teens were good at hiding their insecurities, yet it seemed that this meeting was only making them all come out.

"I was star struck. I told you that, and I apologized. And you know what? Ever since then, we haven't had _one_ unscheduled make-out session in over a month!"

Blaine threw his hands in the air, muttering under his breath, "Why do we have to schedule them, then?" His hazel eyes were fierce, rivaling Kurt's icy blue ones. "And you have only texted me four times. Four times. And do you know what three of those said?"

"I was asking for help for NYADA."

"How do you think I felt about that one?"

The pale brunette blinked rapidly, barely keeping a few tears from escaping their prison. "Do you remember what the third one said, or were you too busy avoiding me?"

"Was it, 'Help me pick out an outfit and compliment it'?"

"It was 'Thanks. Love you.' You never responded."

For a split-second, Blaine seemed truly remorseful about his last statement, and Kurt too seemed willing to apologize. "Do you wanna know why I've been avoiding you?" When Kurt's eyebrow lifted, Blaine continued. "I've been trying to get myself ready for when you leave. Because I'm going to be all alone, and you're going to have this new life, and you won't have time to text me or Skype me, or anything, and you'll have about twenty friends like Chandler. And then there'll be me. Your baggage."

Kurt shook his head, not quite able to form a sentence, but making very sad sounds that sounded suspiciously like a sob.

"I just - it was a lot easier to get mad at you over something like this, so that we could just end things now, and I wouldn't get hurt as badly."

"But I'm hurt."

Emma herself felt tears prickling in her eyes, because this was as bad as Bella Swan reading a Nicholas Sparks novel.

"Blaine, I'm not going to replace you, not for a million Chandlers, or Karofskys, or anything. You're not baggage, you're my boyfriend. And I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry for ignoring you and texting him. He doesn't mean anything, and if you say it's cheating, then it's cheating." Finally, a single tear traced its way down Kurt's pale cheek, and Blaine let one escape soon after.

"I'm sorry, too."

Problem solved. They were both sorry, Kurt had apologized, Blaine had let out all his insecurities, and Emma wasn't acting like a hormonal teenager. Yet.

Before Emma could clap her hands together and offer up some pamphlets, Kurt let out a bitter chuckle. "We can't do this." And what was worse, instead of arguing, Blaine only nodded. "I can't deal with not being with you, and I feel like we're walking on eggshells or something."

"I can't fight this," Blaine muttered.

What was going on? Emma's large brown eyes shifted between the two boys, so defeated and exhausted, and something was happening that Emma didn't quite understand.

"Kurt? You weren't cheating. Still, I don't think I can't be without you for a whole year. And I'm not asking you to choose between me or New York. That's horrible and unfair. I think this is-"

"Goodbye?" Kurt choked, placing a hand over his mouth; Emma found herself shaking her head quickly, mouthing 'no' various times. This couldn't be happening. They were Klaine, KurtandBlaine, the old married couple that everyone made fun of yet desired the same thing at the same time.

"Goodbye."

A stagnant air filled the air, and Kurt started looking for something in the pocket of his incredibly tight jeans. He had something clasped in his pale hand, then he held out his hand for Blaine. The shorter teen took it with a confused expression, gasping when Kurt dropped a crude-looking ring in Blaine's hand. It was one of those gum wrapper rings, the sort of thing that two pre-teen 'I like-like you' kids gave each other.

"Kurt."

"I still love you." With that, Kurt picked up his messenger bag and practically fled from the room. Blaine hesitated for a moment then also grabbed his things, leaving in a hurry. Silently, Emma was cheering him on, to run after Kurt and say something cheesy like, 'I'm going to fight for you. For us'.

Her heart nearly sank when he went the exact opposite way. Instead of going left, Blaine ran right. Emma screamed into her hands, thinking, _I'm really not qualified for this_.

Emma watched the two of them still pine for each other for the rest of the year. She could see that moment when Kurt was watching Blaine interact with Puck and Sam, laughing and joking, and Kurt would straighten his shoulders as if he were either going to walk past Blaine or right up to him. Kurt did neither, ducking between Mercedes and Tina.

Or Blaine, when he saw Kurt chatting amicably with Rachel, keeping their voices chipper even as they were arguing over _Wicked_ and _West Side Story_. Both could appreciate the symbolism of _West Side Story_, but they would eventually come to the conclusion that _Wicked_ had both the better songs and qualified actors. Normally, Blaine would put in his input about _Rent_, and Emma could see the curly-haired teen open his mouth as he walked by; but he would close it immediately, using his height as an advantage to weave between the crowds of students.

They were friendly towards each other at Glee Club, but that was about it. They had celebrated about their sixth place win at Nationals, yet they had kept it to nothing more than a 'Congratulations'. No kisses, like Finn and Rachel, or hugs like Puck and Quinn. But Emma saw the way they would cast each other those looks when the other wasn't looking.

It was heartbreaking.

A terrible part of Emma thought that Blaine wouldn't even be invited to Kurt's graduation party. Luckily, Finn and Kurt were having a shared party (much to the chagrin of the shorter teen), and that gave Blaine enough of an excuse to visit. He had patted Finn on the shoulder and stopped awkwardly in front of Kurt. The pale brunette smiled lightly, reaching forward for a moment, like maybe he wanted to kiss, but he stopped. Blaine almost outstretched his arms for Kurt to bury himself into, and Emma was pretty sure Kurt might've. Instead, the two settled for a friendly handshake.

Their hands linger longer than should have, Kurt eventually pulling away to give a warm hug to his Aunt Mildred. Blaine's hazel eyes filled with unshed tears, and he left the party, placing a small envelope in Kurt's Graduation Card box. He didn't notice the longing look Kurt gave him from behind.

Kurt and Rachel had insisted that Will and Emma come to Kurt's house to see Kurt, Rachel, and Finn off for New York. It had been a much too short summer, in Will's opinion, but Emma didn't think it was much different from any other. She smiled gently, noticing the casual way Kurt had dressed. He was wearing his signature skinny jeans and a white button-up. Rachel was beaming, practically jumping from foot to foot. Even Finn looked excited, though he kept fiddling on his cell phone, most likely texting Puck. Emma had a good mind to smack the phone out of the tall teen- no, young adult's hand. Hiram, Leroy, Burt and Carole all looked tearful. Rachel's parents each gave her a kiss on the cheek, telling her how proud of her they were. In response, Rachel broke out into tears, still smiling. She gave the two of them long hugs that didn't seem to last long enough.

While Rachel was giving her goodbyes to Will and Emma, Burt and Carole were parting with their sons. Carole placed a kiss on Kurt's cheek, lip quivering. "I am so proud that I have had the honor of meeting the fabulous Kurt Hummel. New York won't know what hit them." Kurt let a few tears fall down his cheeks as Carole turned to Finn. "Watch out for your brother, and take care of yourself. You don't know how proud of the man you've become. I love you so much, Finn." Finn gave his mother a bone-crushing hug, breaking the ever-popular 'men don't cry' stigma.

Kurt met his father's gaze. "You're so much like your mother. Strong, kind, determined, loving, talented. Kurt, I don't know what I'm going to do without you, buddy." Burt, despite the strong man that he was, looked just as bad as Carole did, sniffling and ruffling Kurt's hair. The pale brunette did nothing to scold his father. "You promise me you show no mercy."

"I promise, Dad. Thank you so much."

"You sure you don't want to say goodbye to him?" Burt asked, and Kurt knew immediately who was being referred. "There's nothing there?"

"I want to say goodbye, Dad; there's everything there. But this is how it is. Maybe I'll see him on the holidays at the Lima Bean sometime. It's okay." It wasn't okay; the second Finn pulled out of the driveway, Kurt unraveled. Rachel turned to where her friend sat in the back seat and softened her gaze.

She wanted to remind Kurt that he should've faced Blaine, that if he had just mustered up the courage, he would have seen that Blaine felt the exact same way. They were both terribly in love and had made a rash decision. If Kurt had faced his own fears, he would've seen that Blaine would've helped him work through it. Together. But they weren't.

Getting to the airport was the worst part. It had been decided that the parents wouldn't come, to make things easier, to let the three teenagers realize that they were truly adults. Kurt checked his bags for the fifth time in twelve minutes. He was leaving. Lima, Ohio, the Glee Club, WMHS, Blaine, his teachers, all of his old friends, Blaine. Blaine, Blaine, Blaine. Kurt had to remind himself that this was for the best - they had both been responsible adults and wisely broke up. But if it was the right decision, why did it hurt so much? Why did it feel so wrong?

Luckily, Rachel was as much a mess as he was. Her dark hair was messily pulled back into a ponytail, and she wasn't wearing nearly as much make-up as usual (besides, most of it had already been smeared already due to her tears). She gave Kurt a half-smile and looked around for her boyfriend. Rachel and Kurt both jumped up and down, looking for the infamous Frankenteen. Because he was the one with the tickets. Yes, Kurt had been stupid enough to trust his irresponsible stepbrother. Funny how things work like that.

Rachel yelped when she spotted Finn, and the two ran up to him. The tall teenager was grinning ear-to-ear, something very odd, considering that they were about to miss their flight. Then again, Kurt wondered, how were they going to manage to get their car home?

"Finn, what are you smiling-" Rachel cut herself off, a small smile playing on her lips. Kurt gave them both very curious looks now, thinking that he had just entered the Twilight Zone. He didn't see anything worth smiling about. Just crowds of people, and crying children, and Blaine, and irritated workers, and -

Blaine?

Kurt pushed his brother to the side to get a better look at the curly-haired ex-Warbler. At the same time, hazel eyes caught blue ones. They held their gaze for less than a minute before Finn pushed Kurt forwards. The pale brunette felt that his legs were like gelatin as he and Blaine closed the distance between themselves. "What are you doing here?" Kurt breathed, already feeling more right than he had in the last four months.

"Finn called me. He set this whole thing up. It gave me just the push I needed to remind myself that I have no courage whatsoever."

"Set this whole thing up?"

Finn dangled a pair of car keys in his hand. "Dude, we don't even have tickets for New York! We're driving! Awesome, right?" Rachel's eyes widened as she smacked her boyfriend on the shoulder, yet Finn's grin didn't seem fazed in the least.

"So he . . ."

"Set up a romantic airport meeting that I am desperately hoping is romantic. Is it?" Blaine asked, eyes wide and puppy-like. Kurt nodded fiercely, throwing himself into Blaine's strong and open arms. It felt right and safe, and Kurt had never felt better. He met Blaine's eyes once more and shook his head.

"I have wanted to do this for months. I just-"

Blaine shushed him with his own lips, and their hands fit together like nothing had ever happened. The world didn't crack, their hands still fit together perfectly. Blaine was still there, Kurt was still breathing, despite the tears streaking down his face. "Kurt, I am willing to fight for this, to Skype every day and visit you all the time, and you can come home for holidays, and I love you so much."

"I love you, too. But what about McKinley?"

"I'm transferring back to Dalton. I know, I just sound like I'm being a coward, but I realized that I only wanted to go to a public school because of who was there. So in that aspect, I kind of lied to you. It was for me, because it was for you. Does that make sense?"

"Not a bit."

The two ignored the strange looks that random people gave them, the way that they were in the middle of an airport terminal, even though neither of them really had to be there. When they pulled away, Blaine reached into his pocket and pulled out something. He also reached into his messenger bag that Kurt hadn't even noticed until then.

"First of all, I am Margaret Thatcher Dog," Blaine said in a much more convincing British accent than Kurt's had been, showing off the stuffed dog from months ago. Kurt laughed wetly, wiping away the unnecessary tears. "Second of all, this is for you." Blaine revealed the gum wrapper ring, still crude and childlike, but still perfect for Kurt's finger. "Promise ring?"

"Promise ring."

Because even the corniest of pickup lines couldn't beat the bonds made by trust, gum wrapper rings, and stuffed British dogs. Those were the best love stories, just waiting to be written.

**A.N.: Had to be written! I thought that the little counseling in Emma's office in 'Dance With Somebody' was a little attack-y on Kurt. I don't think that he was cheating, but I do think that he shouldn't have been texting Chandler. But I also wasn't on Blaine's side completely. So, yeah, here it is! I don't own GLEE, obviously, and I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to comment and favorite!**


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